China retail May 2026: Market down -21.8%, Leapmotor breaks record, BYD down -37.2%, VW off -43.3%

Leapmotor breaks its volume record in May thanks to the new A10 crossover.

Today we can share with you today All brands and All models retail sales data for China in May, with a little delay as this file takes quite a bit of time to compile. Sales of the selection of vehicles included in this report sink -21.8% year-on-year to 1,435,413, meaning the year-to-date tally is now off -19.2 to 6,796,890 units or a loss of 1.6 million vehicles year-on-year. BSCB is the only non-Chinese medium to cover both wholesales (ex-factory shipments) and retail sales data for China so you can get the most complete picture of the largest new car market in the world. Retail sales tend to give a more authentic picture of the market as they roughly correspond to registrations by end-customers and are more difficult to artificially boost with exports which can sometimes be the case for wholesales data.

The Zeekr 9X is an instant success in China.

BYD (-37.2%) continues to freefall but holds the fort with almost 45,000 sales more than #2 Geely (-18.9%) matching the market. Toyota (-20.3%) is above 100,000 units and stays ahead of Volkswagen (-43.3%) completely imploding. Leapmotor (+96.2%) blissfully ignores the surrounding gloom and almost doubles its sales year-on-year and repeats at an all time high 5th place, also breaking its volume record at 62,965. Tesla (+22.7%) lodges a brilliant result and is the only additional gainer in the Top 10. Just outside, Xiaomi (+17.7%) is down four spots on April to #11. Zeekr (+67.5%) delivers its best volume since December 2024, with Arcfox (+123%), IM (+112.4%), MG (+85.9%), Fang Cheng Bao (+81%), Onvo (+68.8%) and Nevo (+61.4%) also impressive. Apart from Tesla, Kia (+29.9%) is the only foreigner in positive this month.

The Geely Xingyuan is now #1 year-to-date.

In the models charts, the Geely Xingyuan (-0.6%) is the faraway leader despite a slight year-on-year fall. Its advantage over the Tesla Model Y (+16.2%) is over 9,200 units for the month, meaning the Xingyuan reclaims the YTD lead after 5 months with just under 131,000 sales. The Xiaomi SU7 (-6.9%) drops one spot on last month but still ranks at a formidable third place vs. #18 year-to-date. The new Leapmotor A10 replicates its wholesales success and surges 25 ranks on April to land at #4. It distances two other recent launches: the Li i6 at #5 (stable on April) and the BYD Sealion 6 at #6 (-2). Note BYD doesn’t have a single model inside the Top 5.

The Nissan N8X is just under 5,000 sales in May. Encouraging.

The Tesla Model 3 is up 123 spots to #7 while the AITO M6 makes it an incredible four new models in the Top 8. The next best-selling recent launches are the Fang Cheng Bao Tai 7 (#14), BYD Song Ultra (#32), Xiaomi YU7 (cooling significantly at #42 vs. #5 year-to-date), the Zeekr 9X (#43) and Onvo L90 (#45). Now onto a more intriguing study: which of the recently launched models by foreign carmakers have actually hit the mark? They are not too numerous but include the Buick Electre E7 (7,550 sales), Toyota bZ3X (6,262), VW ID.ERA 9X (4,865) and Nissan N8X (4,775). These are not exactly blockbuster levels yet but better than the Mazda EZ-60 (727), Audi E5 Sportback (518), Audi E7X (331), Mercedes CLA (311) and Mazda EZ-6 (223)…

Previous month: China retail April 2026: Leapmotor (+52.3%), Xiaomi (+28.5%) shine in sinking market (-20.8%)

One year ago: China retail May 2025: Sales up 16.4%, Geely up 74.1%, places Xingyuan #1 YTD

Full May 2026 Top 113 All brands and Top 728 All models below.